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US energy company opens crypto mining facility in Middle East to use stranded natural gas
DAVID ATTLEE
13 HOURS AGO
Denver-based Crusoe Energy will help the Middle East nation to cut the gas flaring with the pilot project scheduled for the end of 2022.
As the heated up discussion around the ethical aspects of using fossil fuels in crypto mining remains one of the key topics for the industry, an unexpected partnership between a Denver-based mining company and the government of a gas-rich Middle Eastern country sets a horizon for a positive role of crypto in cutting the fossil fuels waste.
On Wednesday, June 1, Bloomberg reported that Crusoe Energy, an operator repurposing wasted fuel energy to the computational power of crypto mining, would start its work in Oman, a nation that exports 21% of its gas production and seeks zero gas flaring by 2030.
The American company will open an office in the capital city of Muscat, and install its equipment for capturing gas waste at well sites. It already held a workshop with Oman's largest energy producers, OQ SAOC and Petroleum Development Oman. The first pilot project will be launched by the end of this year or in early 2023, according to Crusoe’s CEO Chase Lochmiller.
The government of Oman’s interest in the partnership is driven by an aim to cut the country’s gas flaring — burning off the excessive flammable gas in the process of extraction. Together with Algeria, Iraq, Lybia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Oman accounts for 90% of flaring in the Arab region, while the region itself accounts for 38% of global flaring. In 2018, by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimate, 10% of all the gas consumption in Oman went for flaring.
Related: Go green or die? Bitcoin miners aim for carbon neutrality by mining near data centers
In an official statement, Lochmiller emphasized his company’s mission to set a presence in the Middle East and Northern Africa to help local governments in their fight with flaring:
“Having the buy-in from nations that are actively trying to solve the flaring issues is what we are looking for.”
In March, media reported that Exxon Mobil partnered with Crusoe to run a pilot project of Bitcoin mining at the Bakken shale basin in North Dakota. However, this information wasn’t confirmed by the companies.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-energy-company-opens-crypto-mining-facility-in-middle-east-to-use-stranded-natural-gas
Brace For Impact: Bitcoin Miners Have Begun Dumping Their Holdings
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/88278935/brace-for-impact-bitcoin-miners-have-begun-dumpin
Head of George Soros’ Family Office Predicts Ethereum (ETH) Will Gain Traction Over Bitcoin (BTC):Report
Daily Hodl Staff June 2, 2022 BITCOIN, ETHEREUM
The CEO of an investment management firm founded by George Soros says cryptos have passed the test when it comes to appealing to traditional investors.
In an interview with Bloomberg Wealth, Dawn Fitzpatrick of Soros Fund Management (SFM) tells host David Rubenstein that among the top two crypto assets, she believes Ethereum (ETH) will grab more market share from Bitcoin (BTC) due to environmental concerns.
“It’s here to stay and it’s gone mainstream with Fidelity just announcing you can put it in your 401(k).
The one caveat I would say is, first of all, climate impact is going to become increasingly in focus, and in that context, Ethereum is likely to gain some more traction over Bitcoin.”
Fitzpatrick, who also serves as the firm’s chief investment officer, goes on to say many crypto projects with trillions or even quadrillions of tokens might lead to instability, but overall the blockchain concept seems destined for use-case success.
“When we look at companies in the blockchain and crypto space, they all have massive treasury accounts with a lot of coins in them. And to me, that creates a little bit of near-term vulnerability.
But that said, I think blockchain technology is going to have some great applications.”
Soros Fund Management opened as a hedge fund back in 1970. It currently operates as a family office and as of the first quarter of 2022 held over $6.5 billion in assets.
Back in March of 2021, Fitzpatrick revealed that SFM has invested in cryptocurrencies, also noting that Bitcoin is now seen as an asset to hedge against inflation.
“When it comes to crypto, generally, I think we’re at a really important moment in time in that something like Bitcoin might have stayed a fringe asset but for the fact that over the last 12 months we’ve increased the money supply in the US by 25%, so there’s a real fear of debasing of fiat currencies.”
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/06/02/head-of-george-soros-family-office-predicts-ethereum-eth-will-gain-traction-over-bitcoin-btc-report/
Good meaningful press release, IMO! Increased revenue on existing extended contract; which I also see as a good reference account to hopefully help convince other customers world-wide. An additional marketing opportunity in Florida, and a month sooner then the previously announced one in Spain...Even the forward looking statements of the market opportunities is interesting and meaningful to show that they are in multiple Billion dollar growth industries...
Balancer launches on Ethereum L2 network Optimism
SAM BOURGI
7 HOURS AGO
There are currently 38 projects deployed on the Ethereum layer-2 network. More are expected as attention shifts to scalability.
Automated market maker and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Balancer has officially deployed on Optimism, the highly touted Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, in a move designed to enhance user functionality by increasing scalability and reducing fees.
Balancer’s Optimism deployment was carried out in conjunction with Beethoven X, a decentralized investment platform on the Fantom Network that forked from Balancer v2. Together, both teams are said to have developed a decentralized exchange that is set to compete in the Optimism ecosystem.
Balancer Labs CEO Fernando Martinelli said his project's Optimism deployment reflects the belief that layer-2 scaling solutions will be effective in reducing transaction fees and network congestion.
Optimism is a layer-2 scaling solution designed to bring faster and lower-cost transactions to Ethereum. The network is said to support all decentralized applications on Ethereum via Optimistic Rollups, a scaling solution that operates in parallel with the main Ethereum chain.
Currently, Optimism has over $320 million in total value locked (TVL) on its chain from 38 projects, according to industry data. Its TVL peaked north of $510 million in late April. It currently ranks 19th in overall network value.
The number of projects launching on Optimism has increased considerably in recent months, partly due to expectations that the network was preparing to airdrop new tokens. Optimism has reported a surge in demand from users wanting to position themselves for the OP governance token airdrop, which will occur in multiple phases. It has been reported that nearly 250,000 addresses are eligible to receive the airdrop.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/balancer-launches-on-ethereum-l2-network-optimism
Is Apple preparing to launch its own search engine?
Thursday, June 2, 2022 9:23 am
The rumor mill is revving up ahead of WWDC 2020, set to kick off on Monday, June 6th, with an oldie but a goodie: Apple is prepping the launch its own search engine at the beginning of 2023.
Robert Scoble
@Scobleizer
·
May 28
Apple's WWDC will be the first of three different events that Apple is preparing for the next year introducing the world to augmented reality (a new form that we haven't seen yet).
Thread:
Robert Scoble
@Scobleizer
Oh, and a new search engine is coming too. Will Siri finally get "smart?" Hmmm.
Joel Khalili for TechRadar:
The source of the rumor is a tweet (opens in new tab) from blogger Robert Scoble, which features at the end of a thread describing the announcements he expects from Apple over the next year.
In an exchange with TechRadar Pro, Scoble explained the information is based partly on conversations with sources and partly on deduction. “This is the most expensive product launch of all time [sic],” he added.
Scoble told us the search engine will not be announced at WWDC next week, but rather in January.
MacDailyNews Take: First of all, in order to launch a standalone search engine, Apple would likely be forgoing tens of billions of dollars per year, hoping to replace that with advertising revenue (Google currently pays Apple an estimated $18 billion – $20 billion annually for their search engine to be the default in Apple’s operating systems).
Apple does have an installed base of some 1.8 billion devices (and growing) and far superior user demographics than do competing, derivative OSes (which is why Google pays Apple so much to have access to people who have money and the proven will to spend it), making advertising via “Apple Search” much more valuable, so the math might work out.
In addition, governments and other entities are gunning for Apple and Alphabet, of which Google is a subsidiary, and antitrust authorities are questioning the two companies’ search deal, so Apple could be working on search as a contingency or even preparing to sever the deal and launch a first party search engine in order to preempt any antitrust actions.
There is also the privacy aspect: Apple’s reliance of Google search is a privacy weak point. “Apple Search” could tout and deliver privacy in search to differentiate itself against Google. Open sourcing the Apple search engine’s algorithms would also increase trust.
Before Apple Maps, many said it would be impossible to take on Google. Even with Apple Maps disastrous should’ve-been-tagged-beta launch, that canard has long since been disproven. Apple, the world’s most valuable company, could compete with Google in search as well.
Removing Google’s default access to Mac, iPad, and iPhone users would seriously impact Google’s advertising rates.
The one thing online that needs competition the most is Web search engines. Google’s monopoly in search hampers and affects everything online from publishing to privacy to politics and beyond. A single gatekeeper for finding things online is a prime example of why antitrust law exists (Microsoft’s also-ran Bing with 3.08% of worldwide search, and tiny niche engines like Yahoo, YANDEX, DuckDuckGo, etc. with ~1% or less are not competitive).
As we wrote of the “Apple Search” idea long ago:
If you really want to wage thermonuclear war, wage thermonuclear war. – MacDailyNews, May 30, 2014
https://macdailynews.com/2022/06/02/is-apple-preparing-to-launch-its-own-search-engine/
Apple granted U.S. patent for Apple Watch with ‘built-in rotatable camera’
Thursday, June 2, 2022 2:06 pm
A new U.S. patent granted to Apple hints that future-generation Apple Watch models could allow wearers to take photos and videos from their wrists via a “built-in rotatable camera.”
Anthony Cuthbertson for The Independent:
“A camera can be mounted to the housing and configured to capture a picture of a scene through the back side of the housing,” states the patent, which was first spotted by the site Patently Apple.
“A display can be visible through the front side of the housing and configured to display the picture.”
The patent also outlines a design that would allow the camera to “rotate together with the dial” in order to facilitate selfies.
The ‘Watch Having a Camera’ patent was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Tuesday, meaning it is unlikely to feature in the upcoming launch of the latest Apple Watch [Series 8].
MacDailyNews Take: Whenever we’re without our iPhones – mostly while running outdoors – we’ve wished we had a camera with us more times than we can count. Pretty much everything else we need is right there on our wrists, but a camera the one thing we miss most when going “iPhone-less.”
https://macdailynews.com/2022/06/02/apple-granted-u-s-patent-for-apple-watch-with-built-in-rotatable-camera/
Canadians buy the dip as Purpose Bitcoin ETF holdings reach new highs
SAM BOURGI
12 MINUTES AGO
The Bitcoin spot ETF added to its holdings over the past five days, offering a positive sign that buyers were stepping in to take advantage of lower prices.
Despite May’s price correction, which took Bitcoin (BTC) as low as $23,800, institutional investors seem unwilling to lose confidence in the cryptocurrency.
The Purpose Bitcoin ETF, launched in February 2021, has been seeing a consistent inflow over the last five trading days. The fund’s holdings have increased to 43,701.7 BTC as of Tuesday, according to Glassnode data reported by Jan Wustenfeld. That’s the highest level on record.
Notably, the Canadian spot Bitcoin ETF purchased 2,006 BTC on Thursday and 2,780 BTC on Tuesday.
The inflows seem to align with a broader short-term tendency of institutional buyers investing in crypto again. Data from Coinshares reveals that digital asset investment products saw $87 million in cumulative inflows last week, with Bitcoin products accounting for $69 million of that total.
This news comes as a relief from the digital asset outflow caused by last month’s market collapse, which saw $141 million in total outflows from institutional funds in the week of May 24. That was the highest outflow since July 2021.
Still, according to the Coinshares report, the total assets under management (AUM) metric currently remains at its lowest point since mid-2021 as some institutional buyers seem to be waiting for lower prices to inflow crypto into their funds again.
Looking at the market’s future, analysts still seem bearish in the short term, with predictions for Bitcoin going as low as 14,000 and calling the recent price surge a bull trap. Meanwhile, long term predictions remain positive, with holders still accumulating Bitcoin and young generations remaining bullish.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/canadians-buy-the-dip-as-purpose-bitcoin-etf-holdings-reach-new-highs
ONE OF PANAMA’S LARGEST BANKS JUST BECAME BITCOIN FRIENDLY
Towerbank, a top 30 bank in Panama, just announced bitcoin friendly services at an event hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain of Panama.
SHAWN AMICK MAY 31, 2022
* Towerbank, a top 30 banking institution in Panama, just declared it is bitcoin-
friendly.
* The bank is encouraging customers to sign up for a bitcoin-friendly account with
simple document requirements to access the upcoming functionality.
* Customers are required to provide the wallet address they intend to use and are
required to notify the bank if the address changes.
Towerbank, a top 30 banking institution in Panama, just declared itself bitcoin-friendly in an announcement on Twitter from Cristobal Pereira, the executive director of the Latam Blockchain Summit, the meetup where Towerbank made the announcement.
Following the announcement from Pereira, Towerbank’s Twitter account confirmed the announcement by stating “Towerbank, in Panama, opens its doors to bitcoiners and cryptocurrency investors,” and then followed up with a laser-eyed meme of its headquarters.
A video released by the Blockchain Space Instagram account shows Towerbank's vice president of product, Gabriel Campa, explaining the institution is studying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Campa further explained "And we hope to have something soon to offer our customers," referring to product offerings for bitcoin-based products.
Campa continued stating “We want to work with you and know what we can create to help you be part of this new world.”
The process for customers of Towerbank looking to begin their journey into bitcoin is simple, according to Campa. When asked what documentation customers would need to provide in order to open a bitcoin friendly account, he replied:
“They must only present the following requirements: name, ID card or passport, telephone number, email, activity in which they are engaged, place of work, monthly income and place of residence.”
Campa also explained that customers hoping to use these services will be required to provide the address they want to use for the sale and possession of bitcoin.
“When customers receive funds as a result of the sale of cryptocurrencies, we need to know the address of the wallet with which the transaction was made. So, if you only have one address, you must inform us at the time of opening the account and if you subsequently change your address, you must also inform us,” Campa explained.
Currently, multiple reports suggest that Towerbank will not offer direct bitcoin-to-bitcoin optionality at first, though Towerbank has retweeted some information that suggest the institution is working on providing it at a later date.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/one-of-panamas-largest-banks-just-became-bitcoin-friendly
It looks like Panama has some opportunities for Bitcoin and other Crypto...What is the NAFS CEO been up to? I included his quote from the press release announcing his hiring back in January...
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/NAFS/news/NAFS-Appoints-New-CEO-as-it-looks-ahead-for-2022?id=337790
NAFS Appoints New CEO as it looks ahead for 2022
Press Release | 01/05/2022
Mr. Castrellon brings extensive years of experience in the financial regulatory industry, from Compliance Officer at ProduBank Panama, Banco Pichincha Panama, FPB Bank Panama, Head of Compliance of Quuano & Associates, Financial Advisor for the General Attorneys' Office, Special Unit Against Money Laundering Panama, Auditor for the Superintendence of Securities Market of Panama and Managing Director for Castrellon Cardoze & Associates Corp Panama, Senior Financial Advisor to Patrimonial Recovery Prosecutors Office, Forensic Auditors Unit. Additionally to this Mr. Castrellon teaches part-time Economics, Banking Law, Criminal Law.
Mr. Yglesias stated; "I am personally honored and proud to have given the reins of the company to Abdiel, the leadership and the years of financial law will be the foundation to the future of the Company and a great asset to all the stakeholders of the Company." additionally Mr. Castrellon stated; "It is great to be on board with NAFS, I want to thank all the shareholders and the entire investor community, I will start immediately laying the foundation for the future of the Company called Fort Panama."
ONE OF PANAMA’S LARGEST BANKS JUST BECAME BITCOIN FRIENDLY
Towerbank, a top 30 bank in Panama, just announced bitcoin friendly services at an event hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain of Panama.
SHAWN AMICK MAY 31, 2022
* Towerbank, a top 30 banking institution in Panama, just declared it is bitcoin-
friendly.
* The bank is encouraging customers to sign up for a bitcoin-friendly account with
simple document requirements to access the upcoming functionality.
* Customers are required to provide the wallet address they intend to use and are
required to notify the bank if the address changes.
Towerbank, a top 30 banking institution in Panama, just declared itself bitcoin-friendly in an announcement on Twitter from Cristobal Pereira, the executive director of the Latam Blockchain Summit, the meetup where Towerbank made the announcement.
Following the announcement from Pereira, Towerbank’s Twitter account confirmed the announcement by stating “Towerbank, in Panama, opens its doors to bitcoiners and cryptocurrency investors,” and then followed up with a laser-eyed meme of its headquarters.
A video released by the Blockchain Space Instagram account shows Towerbank's vice president of product, Gabriel Campa, explaining the institution is studying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Campa further explained "And we hope to have something soon to offer our customers," referring to product offerings for bitcoin-based products.
Campa continued stating “We want to work with you and know what we can create to help you be part of this new world.”
The process for customers of Towerbank looking to begin their journey into bitcoin is simple, according to Campa. When asked what documentation customers would need to provide in order to open a bitcoin friendly account, he replied:
“They must only present the following requirements: name, ID card or passport, telephone number, email, activity in which they are engaged, place of work, monthly income and place of residence.”
Campa also explained that customers hoping to use these services will be required to provide the address they want to use for the sale and possession of bitcoin.
“When customers receive funds as a result of the sale of cryptocurrencies, we need to know the address of the wallet with which the transaction was made. So, if you only have one address, you must inform us at the time of opening the account and if you subsequently change your address, you must also inform us,” Campa explained.
Currently, multiple reports suggest that Towerbank will not offer direct bitcoin-to-bitcoin optionality at first, though Towerbank has retweeted some information that suggest the institution is working on providing it at a later date.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/one-of-panamas-largest-banks-just-became-bitcoin-friendly
Apple owns dominant 62% revenue share of tablet applications processors
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 6:23 pm
The global tablet applications processor (AP) market grew 12 percent to $3 billion in the calendar year 2021 and is dominated by Apple with 62% revenue share, dwarfing Intel’s 12% and Qualcomm’s 10% shares, according to Strategy Analytics’ Handset Component Technologies (HCT) Service report.
Arm-based tablets accounted for 89 percent of total tablet APs shipped in 2021.
Tablet AP ASPs grew 21 percent year on year, driven by a better mix and wafer supply constraints.
Sravan Kundojjala, author of the report and Director of Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement, “The tablet applications processor (AP) market, a key segment of the mobile computing market, declined 8% year-on-year in 2021 after seeing a rebound in 2020. Reduced demand for low-end tablet APs and wafer supply constraints affected shipments. However, shipments grew 13% compared to the pre-pandemic period (2019). Despite decline in shipments, the tablet AP market saw double-digit growth in average selling prices (ASP), thanks to a high mix of premium tablet APs.”
Mr. Kundojjala continued, “Apple, MediaTek and Unisoc posted shipments growth, while Allwinner, HiSilicon, Qualcomm, Rockchip and Samsung LSI saw shipment decline in 2021. MediaTek maintained its leading position in the non-Apple tablet AP market, driven by its design wins at Amazon, Lenovo, Samsung and others. On the other hand, Qualcomm shifted focus to premium tablets and saw a 15% shipment decline in 2021.”
MacDailyNews Take: Nobody wants fake iPads.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/31/apple-owns-dominant-62-revenue-share-of-tablet-applications-processors/
Apple assembler Foxconn predicts more stable supply chain for second half of 2022
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 11:20 am
Taiwan’s Foxconn, a major Apple assembler and the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said on Tuesday that the second half of the year is heading “in a better direction” as the Chinese Communist Party’s quixotic “zero-COVID’ lockdowns in China finally appear to be easing.
Reuters:
“We are quite confident in the stability of our supply chain for the second half of this year,” Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way told the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
The Shanghai government will allow all residents in ‘low-risk’ areas to return to work from Tuesday.
Foxconn is aiming to become the first electric vehicle (EV) maker “not short on material supplies,” Liu said, referring to a prolonged global chip shortage that has forced carmakers to halt production and hurt smartphone production including for Apple Inc, a major client.
Foxconn reiterated that while China’s strict COVID-19 controls in China had only a limited impact on production as it kept workers on-site in a “closed loop” system, demand for its products in the country has suffered as people remain shut in.
MacDailyNews Take: Encouraging news that should bode well for Apple.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/31/apple-assembler-foxconn-predicts-more-stable-supply-chain-for-second-half-of-2022/
Don’t expect to see Apple’s mixed reality headset at WWDC
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 12:34 pm
Via Twitter, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says not to expect to see Apple’s mixed reality headset at WWDC next week as the company will want to keep the product under wraps prior to its early 2023 reveal / mid-2023 launch in order to thwart the inevitable flood of copycats.
Phillip Tracy for Gizmodo:
The reasons, it seems, are twofold. First, mass production of the “AR/MR” (augmented and mixed reality) headset won’t happen for some time, according to Kuo. So WWDC would be too early for a reveal. Moreover, should Apple debut its headset with full specs, it’d give competitors a blueprint for copycatting.
Kuo then casually adds that Apple will launch in “2023,” echoing analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities, who similarly said the product will be delayed until early 2023.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the AR/VR headset won’t be mentioned at all. At some point, Apple will need to hype its mixed reality platforms, so developers feel compelled to build AR/VR apps and optimize their existing ones for a new platform. Another piece of the puzzle is iOS 16, which is expected to debut with several new AR/VR technologies. Moreover, software developers recently unearthed references to “realityOS” in App Store upload logs and GitHub repositories used by Apple, suggesting we could learn about Apple’s mixed-reality platform before any hardware debuts.
MacDailyNews Take: The changes augmented reality will usher in, led by privacy-focused and widely trusted Apple, will be significant and far-reaching. Hopefully, even without headset hardware, we’ll get some nice hints – developers have to get ready, after all – at WWDC next Monday!
Augmented reality is going to change everything. — MacDailyNews, July 21, 2017
The impact of augmented reality cannot be overstated. It will be a paradigm shift larger than the iPhone and the half-assed clones it begat. — MacDailyNews, August 4, 2017
Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll look back at holding up slabs of metal and glass to access AR as unbelievably quaint. — MacDailyNews, July 28, 2017
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/31/dont-expect-to-see-apples-mixed-reality-headset-at-wwdc/
Apple may unveil all-new M2 MacBook Air at WWDC on June 6th
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 2:06 pm
Apple seems poised to introduce a new redesigned M2-powered MacBook Air is this year – and it may arrive as soon as next Monday, June 6th during Apple’s WWDC 2022 keynote address.
In March, Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young reported that the 2022 MacBook Air will feature a display size of 13.6-inches. This would make it 0.3-inches larger than the current ?MacBook Air?, but still 0.6-inches smaller than the current 14.2-inch MacBook Pro.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
If there’s any hardware at WWDC, it will likely be on the Mac side. The company has been aiming to launch the next MacBook Air with M2 chips at the conference.
The recent supply chain crunch due to Covid-related closures in China has complicated that, but developers say that Apple employees are increasingly using next-generation MacBook Airs with their apps. That’s a sign that the new Mac is close.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s M2 chip (internally known as “Staten”) is said to offer an eight-core CPU just like M1, but alongside a more powerful 10-core GPU. Accordingly, as it’s designed to balance power and efficiency, the M2 chip will be the direct successor to the M1, but not as powerful at the high-end as the M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M1 Ultra.
Expect Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display, but sans ProMotion, to come to the all-new M2 MacBook Air, too!
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/31/apple-may-unveil-all-new-m2-macbook-air-at-wwdc-on-june-6th/
Apple’s A16 chip said to stick to 5nm process; M2 will make leap to 3nm
Friday, May 27, 2022 11:11 am
According to the leaker known as “ShrimpApplePro” on Twitter reveals Apple’s chip plans for its upcoming A16 and M2 chips, as well as the “final” variant in the M1 family of chips.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
The A16 will reportedly be based on TSMC’s 5nm process, just like the A14, A15, and M1 chips. Previous reports have been unclear about whether the A16 will be fabricated with TSMC’s more advanced 4nm process, with an ambiguous report from DigiTimes claiming that Apple plans to use TSMC’s 4nm N4P process – but N4P is in fact an enhanced, third-generation version of the 5nm process. On the other hand, ShrimpApplePro said that the A16 will use TSMC’s N5P process. This suggests that the A16 may be less of a substantial upgrade than previously thought.[color=red][/color]
According to the information, the A16’s improvements will instead come from minor enhancements to the CPU, GPU, and memory. Mirroring a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, ShrimpApplePro said that the A16 will specifically feature LPDDR 5 memory. LPDDR 5 memory is up to one and a half times faster and up to 30 percent more power-efficient than the LPDDR 4X memory paired with the A15 chip in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro.
The M2 chip will apparently be the first Apple chip to make the jump to TSMC’s 3nm process, skipping 4nm entirely. The M2 is believed to be Apple’s first custom ARMv9 processor.
MacDailyNews Note: Much more in the full article here.
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/27/apple-chip-plans-suggest-a16-to-stick-with-5nm/
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/27/apples-a16-chip-said-to-stick-to-5nm-process-m2-will-make-leap-to-3nm/
Apple assembler Quanta faces worker revolt in locked down Shanghai factory
Friday, May 27, 2022 9:45 am
Apple assembler Quanta Computer faces a revolt by workers stuck inside a Shanghai factory locked down due the Chinese Communist Party’s quixotic “xero-COVID” crusade.
Bloomberg News:
Violent clashes, mounting infections and vacant factory floors: the turmoil that’s engulfed tens of thousands of workers at an Apple Inc. supplier in Shanghai is a troubling symptom of China’s extreme efforts to keep factories humming during its worst Covid outbreak since 2020.
Trapped in a bubble for almost two months, locked down by government decree and walled off from the outside world, Quanta Computer Inc.’s mostly low-wage workers are demanding more freedom and beginning to revolt against their overseers, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Trapped in a bubble for almost two months, locked down by government decree and walled off from the outside world, Quanta Computer Inc.’s mostly low-wage workers are demanding more freedom and beginning to revolt against their overseers, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Hundreds of workers have clashed with guards. A large contingent, worried that their supplies would run out should the lockdown persist, flooded past guarded isolation barriers earlier this month in search of daily necessities, according to several employees. Over the past weekend, media reports went viral of a large group storming a dormitory housing Quanta’s Taiwanese managers after a dispute over the prolonged lockdown and pay — triggering an hours-long standoff confirmed by several workers within the compound.
The incidents underscore how sentiment is souring on a lockdown that’s up-ended the lives of 25 million Shanghainese since March.
MacDailyNews Take: Again:
• There’s no such thing as zero-COVID, but this year is the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th party congress, so the farce will continue until the politics no longer dictate tilting at windmills. Then COVID will be allowed to wash through China, as it already has around much of the world. – MacDailyNews, May 9, 2022
• In general, human-transmissible coronaviruses do not disappear. There is no such thing as zero-COVID. Duh.
COVID-19 is here to stay. It will very likely become endemic, yet pose less danger over time. People will acquire immunity via vaccines (effectiveness TDB) and naturally as they contract and recover from variants like omicron since the partially-effective vaccines permit not only transmissibility, but also breakthrough infections. Influenza and the four human coronaviruses that cause common colds (OC43, 229E, NL63 and HKU1) are, of course, also endemic, but a combination of annual flu vaccines and acquired immunity means that sane societies tolerate the unavoidable seasonal deaths and illnesses they bring without requiring lockdowns, masks, social distancing, indefinite return-to-work delays, etc.
At which point, if ever, will some people decide that wasting away their short lives in abject fear of a bad flu, very likely engineered by China and partially funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is a hysterical self-defeating overreaction? – MacDailyNews, December 16, 2021
• The real virus is the panic. – MacDailyNews, March 9, 2020
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/27/apple-assembler-quanta-faces-worker-revolt-in-locked-down-shanghai-factory/
Analyst sees a silver lining in report for flat YoY iPhone production
Friday, May 27, 2022 8:45 am
A Wall Street analyst sees a silver lining in a report that Apple is planning to keep iPhone production constant relative to 2021 despite expectations for more significant feature enhancements.
Emily Bary for MarketWatch:
The report noted that Apple is requesting that suppliers assemble about 220 million iPhones this year, consistent with last year’s levels, while some market forecasts had previously been modeling production of roughly 240 million units.
A Mizuho analyst said that the reported production plans are “NOT NEW NEWS in my view to anyone not living on another planet.”
Mizuho’s Jordan Klein, a desk-based analyst associated with the company’s sales team and not its research unit, said the news could actually be seen as “a net positive for AAPL and their key suppliers as it tends to reduce investor risk and fears that AAPL over-orders and produces new iPhones starting July onward that would result in excess unsold inventories and material order cuts starting Dec ’22 onward.”
MacDailyNews Take: Exactly.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/27/analyst-sees-a-silver-lining-in-report-for-flat-yoy-iphone-production/
Barcelona, 11-15, JULY 2022
Javier Diaz-Rozo
AI and IIoT Convergence Towards Automated Bridge Inspection
Aingura IIoT, Spain
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and machine learning technologies can provide useful real-world applications on the structural health monitoring (SHM) sector giving useful actionable insights towards bridge maintenance. Therefore, the combination of data acquisition, pre-processing and machine learning techniques, working within embedded computing nodes located at bridges, can provide indicators to help on their maintenance. These types of solutions can help to prioritize bridges depending on their health using objective indicators that can help to improve current inspections based on subjective parameters. Therefore, this keynote describes state-of-the-art advances in each IIoT phase towards SHM, in terms of bridge instrumentation, new feature generation, dynamic machine learning approaches and edge computing. As an example of these applications, a use-cases involving four real deployments at Massachusetts (U.S.A) area are described. Effectiveness of these methodologies in terms of estimating the modal parameters of the bridge and monitoring their trend as an indicator of bridge health is shown. Specifically, the keynote will showcase how the bridge behavior pattern is developed and monitored based on normal traffic, without complex approaches such as finite elements models or expensive instrumentation, enabling the solution the be potentially applied to conventional bridges.
https://congress.cimne.com/iabmas2022/frontal/JavierDiaz.asp
It is with great pleasure that an occasion to share the new achievements on the topics of Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management is going to be presented at BARCELONA IABMAS 2022: 11th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management. The first tenth conferences in the series were very successful, both technically and academically, and IABMAS conferences have become established events in the field of bridge maintenance, safety and management and related topics. In this edition, we are coming back to the location where the first conference of the series was organized twenty years ago: Barcelona. We intend to make the 11th edition of the conference another successful edition of the IABMAS meetings.
IABMAS 2022 will be held in Barcelona, Spain in July 11-15th, 2022, at the Vertex Conference Hall with modernized audio-visual facilities and very good connections to nearby hotels, the airport and the city center.
The objectives of BARCELONA IABMAS 2022 are to address all aspects of bridge maintenance, safety and management. Specifically, it deals with: bridge repair and rehabilitation issues; bridge management systems; needs of bridge owners, financial planning, whole life costing and investment for the future; bridge related safety, risk and economic issues. The implications and applications of Big Data and AI in the management of existing bridge stocks is also one of the relevant objectives.
https://congress.cimne.com/iabmas2022/frontal/default.asp
https://congress.cimne.com/iabmas2022/frontal/JavierDiaz.asp
Intellectual Property
https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=15801183&guid=gmKwkeCe4AE_B3h#IIOT_424B4_HTM_p17
On February 5, 2018, we entered into a Non-Exclusive Patent License Agreement with MIT. The agreement, which was effective February 1, 2018, granted to us a royalty-bearing non-exclusive license under U.S. Patent Nos. 8344724 (“Non-Intrusive Monitoring of Power and Other Parameters” issued January 1, 2013), 14/263407 (“Non-Intrusive Monitoring” filed April 28, 2014), and Patent Cooperation Treaty Serial No. PCT/US2016/057165 (“Noncontact Power Sensing” filed October 14, 2016) during the term of the agreement. The term of the agreement was from the effective date until the expiration or abandonment of all issued patents and filed patent applications licensed pursuant to the agreement, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the agreement.
Under the agreement, we were required to make a first commercial sale of a “LICENSED PRODUCT” and/or a first commercial performance of a “LICENSED PROCESS,” as defined in the agreement, on or before September 30, 2018. We had negotiated revenue targets with MIT which would determine annual royalty payments. The 2018 minimum revenue target for the sale of products and services incorporating the MIT technology was $100,000. This minimum revenue amount would increase in subsequent years.
Within 30 days of invoicing, a non-refundable license issue fee of $10,000 was paid by us to MIT. Pursuant to the agreement, we were required to pay to MIT additional patent maintenance fees in years beyond 2018.
Pursuant to the agreement, we were required to pay to MIT a running royalty of 2% of “NET SALES,” as defined in the agreement made in the calendar years 2018, 2019, and 2020. For “NET SALES” made in the calendar year 2021 and every calendar year thereafter through the term of the agreement, we were required to pay to MIT a running royalty of 4%.
On October 31, 2018, we sent written notice of our intent to terminate the agreement with an effective date of termination of April 30, 2019. Since none of the technology licensed to us by MIT had been used by us in any of our products and we had been investing in the development of our own intellectual property, we determined the technology that was licensed from MIT wasn’t necessary in the near term. Due to this, the written notice sent by us expressed a desire by our management to renegotiate the terms of the agreement with MIT.
MIT declined to renegotiate the terms of the agreement and, on December 6, 2018, we received a notice of termination from MIT due to non-payment of fees. As of December 6, 2018, the agreement was terminated, fees are no longer accruing, interest is accruing and $76,283.88 in fees owed to MIT are still owing as of the date of this Prospectus. Despite the termination of the Agreement, we remain active with MIT as a member of the MIT Startup Exchange (STEX). The purpose of STEX is to promote collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and members of MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program. We remain open to future mutually acceptable agreements with MIT.
I find it very interesting that ITOX and Tulip Interfaces both are associated with MIT...
IIoT-OXYS Inc. Exercises Option to License MIT Technology That Has Broad Applications to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
https://www.accesswire.com/482685/IIoT-OXYS-Inc-Exercises-Option-to-License-MIT-Technology-That-Has-Broad-Applications-to-the-Industrial-Internet-of-Things-IIoT
About Tulip Interfaces
Tulip, the leader in frontline operations, is helping companies of all sizes, across industries including pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, industrial equipment, contract manufacturing, medical devices, and others equip their frontline workforce – leading to improved productivity, higher quality, and increased efficiency. A spinoff out of MIT, the company is headquartered in Somerville, MA, with offices in Germany, and Hungary. It has been recognized as a Challenger on the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for MES and is a World Economic Forum Global Innovator.
Also, why would a CEO of a company that profits from allegedly helping manufacturing companies want to speak at the Anti-Capitalism WEF annual meeting??
Tulip CEO Natan Linder to Discuss Future of Manufacturing and Frontline Operations at Davos 2022
DAVOS, Switzerland - May 18 2022// Next week, Tulip Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Natan Linder will represent Tulip Interfaces at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. Linder will join world leaders in industry, government, academia, and civil society in discussions of substantive issues that affect the future of manufacturing.
https://tulip.co/press/tulip-ceo-discuss-future-of-manufacturing-and-frontline-operations-at-davos-2022/
Cliff operates his private consulting service, ACC Healthcare Solutions, out of his home in Dennis, MA on Cape Cod.
I don't know how you would know this, except that you must be local to Massachusetts. Are you? The only competitor of ITOX, that I can find based out of Massachusetts is Tulip Interfaces, which also obtained their technology from MIT; just like ITOX! Isn't that interesting...? Did you attend MIT, and or do you work for Tulip Interfaces?
About Tulip Interfaces
Tulip, the leader in frontline operations, is helping companies of all sizes, across industries including pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, industrial equipment, contract manufacturing, medical devices, and others equip their frontline workforce – leading to improved productivity, higher quality, and increased efficiency. A spinoff out of MIT, the company is headquartered in Somerville, MA, with offices in Germany, and Hungary. It has been recognized as a Challenger on the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for MES and is a World Economic Forum Global Innovator.
https://tulip.co/press/tulip-ceo-discuss-future-of-manufacturing-and-frontline-operations-at-davos-2022/
Apple aims to keep iPhone production flat at around 220 million units this year
Thursday, May 26, 2022 9:07 am
Apple is planning to keep iPhone production roughly flat in 2022, asking suppliers to assemble roughly 220 million iPhones, about the same as last year, Bloomberg News reports citing “people familiar with its projections.”
Debby Wu for Bloomberg News:
Market forecasts have hovered closer to 240 million units, driven by an expected major update to the iPhone in the fall. But the mobile industry has gotten off to a difficult start to the year and production estimates are down across the board.
The worst inflation in decades, a war in Ukraine and supply-chain turmoil all threaten to weigh on sales in 2022. Strategy Analytics has predicted that overall smartphone shipments will contract as much as 2% in 2022, and TrendForce has twice downgraded its full-year production forecast in recent weeks. IDC and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts [had] both forecast about 240 million iPhones for this year earlier in the period.
Apple already warned that supply problems will impact sales by $4 billion to $8 billion in the current quarter, largely because Covid-19 lockdowns are roiling production lines in China. And the whole tech industry is bracing for a slowdown in consumer spending as rising fuel and materials prices push up the cost of everyday essentials.
MacDailyNews Take: With flat iPhone production (which can be increased at any time), Apple’s iPhone will be just fine, but the real growth for the company is in Apple’s Services which, with an installed base of some 2 billion devices, and growing, increasingly becomes a larger portion of Apple’s revenue generators.
Last quarter, Apple Services revenue surged 17% to record quarterly revenue of $19.8 billion. At the end of March, Apple had more than 825 million paying subscribers worldwide (comprising both Apple-branded and third-party services), up more than 165 million in the last 12 months, and up from 785 million at the end of 2021.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/26/apple-aims-to-keep-iphone-production-flat-at-around-220-million-units-this-year/
Apple Watch dominates smartwatch market with 91.9% market share in North America
Thursday, May 26, 2022 3:16 pm
CUJO AI Explorer data from more than 1.7 billion connected devices in North America shows Apple Watch dominates the North American smartwatch market with 91.9% market share.
CUJO AI Explorer data offers a holistic analysis of the connected device market in North America, its recent trends, areas of growth and challenges. The data we provide encompasses more than 1.7 billion connected devices in the span of 12 months between April 2021 and April 2022.
CUJO AI:
Smartwatches continue to show strong adoption and grow in number. Overall, smartwatches make up 5.5% of all connected devices, and the category’s monthly popularity shows continuing growth, with most months of the year outperforming the baseline.
Apple dominates the space with well over 91% of all smartwatches. Samsung (5.92%), Fitbit (1.71%), Garmin (0.32%) and Fossil (0.03%) are the only other noticeable brands in the space, with others having negligible footprints among the connected smartwatch population.
Smartwatches have sustained the rise in popularity we’ve observed in last year’s report, and no other wearable device (e.g., specialized health devices) seems to be having as much adoption.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in August 2017:
It’s not too difficult to dominate in smartwatches when you’re the only true smartwatch maker.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/26/apple-watch-dominates-smartwatch-market-with-91-9-market-share-in-north-america/
Apple's Cork campus expanding with 1300 new hires
Malcolm Owen | May 24, 2022
Apple is expanding its Cork campus with another office building to accommodate 1,300 new employees at its European headquarters in Ireland.
Apple has been in Cork for over four decades, and has a sizable campus in the Irish city. Now, Apple wants to increase the building count by one more, with plans to build new offices on the site.
The plan, which has been lodged with the the Cork City Council for planning permission, will involve building a new four-story structure with a basement, which RTE reports could be completed by mid-2025.
The building will be run using 100% renewable energy, using solar panels on all of the new structures, including walkways between buildings. It will also include a Commute Hub with bike and scooter storage, as well as e-charging points.
Employee transport services and green communal spaces at the Hollyhill campus are also planned.
"We've called Cork home for more than 40 years, and are thrilled to accelerate our investments here as we grow our team and expand our campus," said Apple VP of European Operations Cathy Kearney. "We are proud to be part of the community here, and with this new project, we will continue to create new jobs, support local organisations, and drive innovation on behalf of our customers."
With around 6,000 people employed by Apple in Cork, in its campus and throughout the city center, the new building will apparently be used by a mix of existing and new staff. Though it is unknown how many new people will be employed to work at Apple after its construction, the building will have a capacity of 1,300 staff.
Other city center operations are expected to remain open, rather than shutting and migrating to the new building on the campus.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/05/24/apples-cork-campus-expanding-with-1300-new-hires?utm_medium=rss
Bank of America: Apple seeing ‘modest’ re-acceleration in App Store, China
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 10:01 am
Apple’s stock price fell early in Tuesday trading as Bank of Americas’ investment arm said that Apple is experiencing a “modest” re-acceleration in App Store spending and downloads alongside improvements in China App Store revenue growth.
Chris Ciaccia for Seeking Alpha:
Analyst Wamsi Mohan, who rates Apple shares buy with a per-share price target of $200, noted that global App Store revenue in the current quarter has risen 7% year-over-year to $2.6 billion, as of April 30, citing data from Sensor Tower.
The data also showed that total downloads on iPhones and iPads are up 5% year-over-year to 3.2 billion, with the average selling price per download up 1.7% year-over-year.
In contrast, App Store revenue grew about 6% year-over-year in the company’s recent quarter.
Separately, App Store revenue in China grew 11% year-over-year in April, compared to 6% growth in March, while downloads grew 9% year-over-year in April, versus just 6% in March.
“We note that app store compares get materially easier over the next several [quarters] that can drive a re-acceleration,” Mohan wrote in a note to clients.
MacDailyNews Take: Upside. Bank of America currently has a $200 price target on Apple shares.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/24/bank-of-america-apple-seeing-modest-re-acceleration-in-app-store-china/
Apple’s WWDC 2022 kicks off June 6th with keynote address
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 1:08 pm
Today, Apple unveiled the lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including keynote and Platforms State of the Union, and shared more information with developers about what they’ll learn and experience.
Free for all developers, WWDC22 helps developers and designers explore the latest technologies, tools, and frameworks coming to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Throughout the week, developers will be able to connect directly with Apple engineers and designers through labs and Digital Lounges for guidance on building innovative and platform-differentiating apps and games.
Apple Keynote
June 6, 10 a.m. PDT
WWDC22 launches with a first look at groundbreaking updates coming to Apple platforms later this year. The keynote address will be available via apple.com, the Apple Developer app, the Apple TV app, and YouTube, with on-demand playback available after the conclusion of the stream.
Platforms State of the Union
June 6, 2 p.m. PDT
Developers will learn how they can take their apps to the next level with a deeper dive into the new tools, technologies, and advances across Apple platforms. Platforms State of the Union will stream via the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.
Apple Design Awards
June 6, 5 p.m. PDT
Every year, the Apple Design Awards recognize and celebrate the art, craft, creativity, and technical expertise that Apple developers bring to their work. The Apple Design Awards will stream via the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.
Access to Experts
Featuring over 150 in-depth session videos, WWDC22 brings together the latest tools and technologies to give developers the chance to learn how they can create the next generation of apps. Apple Developer Program members, Apple Developer Enterprise Program members, and 2022 Swift Student Challenge award recipients can request one-on-one lab appointments with Apple experts for guidance on implementing the latest technologies, following best practices, and designing their apps.
Beginning June 7, session videos will be posted daily on the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.
Activities
In addition to sessions and lab consultations, Apple engineers and designers will host activities all week in Digital Lounges to help developers engage in technical discussions, get answers to their questions, and connect with the community. Try a coding or design challenge, participate in a Q&A, meet session presenters, and more.
Swift Student Challenge
With the announcement of the Swift Student Challenge winners today, Apple continues to celebrate student developers from all over the world. The event gives students of all ages the opportunity to showcase their love of coding by creating their own Swift Playgrounds app project.
Developer App
The Apple Developer app is a great way to experience WWDC22 on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, with daily updates and notifications on the latest news, content, and activities. Developers can browse content by topic, register for Digital Lounges and one-on-one lab consultations, watch videos with their peers using SharePlay, copy code directly from session videos, read feature stories, and more.
MacDailyNews Take: Developers can also access all WWDC content, registration, news, feature stories, and documentation at developer.apple.com.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/24/apples-wwdc-2022-kicks-off-june-6th-with-keynote-address/
French Luxury Brand Balenciaga to Accept Bitcoin, Ethereum as Payment
By Sander Lutz
May 23, 2022
2 min read
The luxury fashion brand is also privately designing a long-term metaverse business strategy.
Crypto is another step closer to mainstream acceptance as a payment method—if buying $1,250 hoodies that come pre-destroyed can be considered mainstream, that is.
Starting next month, French luxury fashion label Balenciaga will begin accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment online and at select brick-and-mortar locations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The move makes Balenciaga the latest legacy fashion brand to embrace cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Earlier this month, Gucci announced that it would begin permitting crypto payments online and at five in-store locations. Gucci currently accepts cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu as payment.
Balenciaga will initially permit payment only in Bitcoin or Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, but plans to expand the program to other coins in due time.
Luxury fashion is no stranger to Web3. The last year has seen numerous legacy brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, and Burberry, launch NFT collections and metaverse pop-ups. As traditional as these brands are in some respects, they’re all seemingly aligned on digital fashion as a business opportunity: According to several industry experts who spoke to Decrypt in October, the digital fashion industry could eventually approach or even match the $2 trillion value of the physical fashion market.
In December, Balenciaga announced the formation of an in-house metaverse business unit. While Cédric Charbit, the label’s CEO, declined to reveal anything to the WSJ regarding the unit’s plans or long-term strategy, he did say that he sees “the metaverse as a country,” a market just as important as any nation the brand currently operates in.
The news of Balenciaga’s embrace of cryptocurrencies comes as many believe the crypto market is entering another Crypto Winter. The amount of Bitcoin necessary to purchase a $1,250 Balenciaga hoodie in November would be worth a little under $563 today. But the turbulence of the crypto market does not intimidate the brand’s leadership. When asked if the market’s recent crash affected Balenciaga’s position on crypto, Charbit simply replied that his thinking was “long-term.”
https://decrypt.co/101183/balenciaga-accept-bitcoin-ethereum-metaverse
French Luxury Brand Balenciaga to Accept Bitcoin, Ethereum as Payment
By Sander Lutz
May 23, 2022
2 min read
The luxury fashion brand is also privately designing a long-term metaverse business strategy.
Crypto is another step closer to mainstream acceptance as a payment method—if buying $1,250 hoodies that come pre-destroyed can be considered mainstream, that is.
Starting next month, French luxury fashion label Balenciaga will begin accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment online and at select brick-and-mortar locations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The move makes Balenciaga the latest legacy fashion brand to embrace cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Earlier this month, Gucci announced that it would begin permitting crypto payments online and at five in-store locations. Gucci currently accepts cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu as payment.
Balenciaga will initially permit payment only in Bitcoin or Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, but plans to expand the program to other coins in due time.
Luxury fashion is no stranger to Web3. The last year has seen numerous legacy brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, and Burberry, launch NFT collections and metaverse pop-ups. As traditional as these brands are in some respects, they’re all seemingly aligned on digital fashion as a business opportunity: According to several industry experts who spoke to Decrypt in October, the digital fashion industry could eventually approach or even match the $2 trillion value of the physical fashion market.
In December, Balenciaga announced the formation of an in-house metaverse business unit. While Cédric Charbit, the label’s CEO, declined to reveal anything to the WSJ regarding the unit’s plans or long-term strategy, he did say that he sees “the metaverse as a country,” a market just as important as any nation the brand currently operates in.
The news of Balenciaga’s embrace of cryptocurrencies comes as many believe the crypto market is entering another Crypto Winter. The amount of Bitcoin necessary to purchase a $1,250 Balenciaga hoodie in November would be worth a little under $563 today. But the turbulence of the crypto market does not intimidate the brand’s leadership. When asked if the market’s recent crash affected Balenciaga’s position on crypto, Charbit simply replied that his thinking was “long-term.”
https://decrypt.co/101183/balenciaga-accept-bitcoin-ethereum-metaverse
ONE OF THE LARGEST REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS IN BRAZIL NOW ACCEPTS BITCOIN
SHAWN AMICK 3 HOURS AGO
Gafisa, one of the largest Brazilian real estate developers, now accepts bitcoin for real estate transactions through a partnership with Foxbit.
* Brazilian real estate developer, Gafisa, is now accepting bitcoin as payment for
real estate transactions.
* In order to bring bitcoin to its customers, Gafisa partnered with a cryptocurrency
gateway provider known as Foxbit.
* Bitcoin improves real estate transactions by allowing quick and final settlement
of transactions, low fees and removing intermediaries
Gafisa, one of the largest Brazilian real estate developers, is now accepting bitcoin as payment for the purchase of real estate, according to a press release from Foxbit, a cryptocurrency payment gateway provider.
Foxbit stated that one of the reasons for Gafisa’s bitcoin integration was the removal of intermediaries. In the real estate market, plenty of entities get a piece of the pie, be it banks, real estate companies and agents, payment processors or other involved parties; there’s no shortage of intermediaries in a real estate transaction. Bitcoin helps lessen the costs of transactions with quick and final settlements while eliminating the risk of fraud.
The press release stated that Gafisa’s decision to accept bitcoin was also largely based on the disruptive nature of the technology which can open opportunities for further innovation in the growing sector.
This growth has seen Brazil has become one of the leading countries for the adoption of bitcoin. Not only does Brazil rank number six in on-chain value transacted in a report by Chainalysis, but Gafisa houses 1 out of every 130 Brazilians, according to Gafisa data, making this a natural path of progression.
“Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in market value and, technologically, the most ballast currency in history,” said Guilherme Benevides, CEO of Gafisa. “It is a currency that is growing in popularity every day, also expanding the possibilities of its use.”
Benevides continued to explain that bitcoin follows a path of progression and with the digital revolution currently being experienced worldwide, Gafisa feels digital payments will continue to garner an increasingly high level of presence in emerging economies.
“There is a natural tendency to digitize payments,” Benevides explained. “If we stop to think that the Central Bank will launch the digital real in 2022, we can conclude that, in fact, digital currencies are increasingly present in the world."
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/brazilian-real-estate-company-gafisa-accepts-bitcoin
i said documented and provided a link for the CEO of ITOX! Where is your documented business experience with links please?
ITOX CEO Clifford L. Emmons certainly has more documented experience than anyone else i see posting here....i am also an investor of ITOX, as I see this as a company with an opportunity in more than one growth industry!
CEO, Interim CFO, Principal Executive Officer
From 1995 to 2017, Mr. Emmons worked for Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions, where he served in various capacities including several Vice President and Director positions. Mr. Emmons is also the founder of AHI, LLC, a consultancy firm. Mr. Emmons received an Executive Certificate in Strategy & Innovation from MIT, a Masters of Science in Management Engineering from the University of Bridgeport, a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Haven, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/ITOX/profile
FCC filings reveal Apple’s mysterious iOS-powered ‘Network Adapter’
Sunday, May 22, 2022 12:46 pm
New U.S. FCC filings this week reveal a mysterious new iOS-powered “Network Adapter” from Apple codenamed “A2657.”
Filipe Espósito for MacRumors:
According to documents shared by the FCC, Apple sent a sample unit of this device to the agency on January 22, 2022. Although there are no images of the adapter, the documents describe details of its internal hardware.
Apple’s mysterious Network Adapter has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC antennas, plus a USB-C port. Interestingly, the FCC filings also show that the accessory features 32GB of internal storage and 1.5GB of RAM. A second version of the same product has a Lightning port instead of USB-C and only 1GB of RAM.
If by any chance this adapter is a new unreleased product from Apple, would it be a modern network hub for Mac users or an AirPort replacement?
MacDailyNews Take: As our eero Pro 6 has currently decided to randomly disconnect for a minute or so every few hours (any ideas to fix are greatly appreciated), bring it on! We miss our AirPort Extremes.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/22/fcc-filings-reveal-apples-mysterious-ios-powered-network-adapter/
Woman drops Apple Watch at Disney World, claims $40,000 in fraudulent credit card charges
Monday, May 23, 2022 11:26 am
A woman lost her Apple Watch Hermès on a ride at Walt Disney World last month and subsequently claimed approximately $40,000 of fraudulent charges were made via credit cards stored in Apple Wallet on her Watch.
Katie Francis for WDW News Today:
The woman was fidgeting with her Apple watch while she rode the slow-moving The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction on April 13. The ride was in an elevated position, the woman said, at the worst possible time when the watch popped off her wrist…
She had several credit cards linked to the watch, including an American Express card with an unlimited credit line, the report said.
The woman, who was staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, filed an incident with Disney Guest Relations to see if anyone had retrieved the fallen watch. She went back later, and no one had turned it in. “The staff advised her that they did not have the watch,” the report said.
Then came the fraud alerts.
The woman “advised that has several fraud alerts throughout the course of the day on her Amex card. According to the victim, there was approximately $40,000 of fraudulent charges on her card,” the report said.
The woman said she shut down the credit cards attached to the missing watch.
MacDailyNews Take: If wrist detection is enabled, as it is by default, an Apple Watch locks automatically soon after it’s removed from the user’s wrist.
If you turn off wrist detection, when you use Apple Pay on your Apple Watch, you’ll be prompted to enter your passcode when you double-click the side button to authorize the payment.
If you disable your Apple Watch’s passcode, you can’t use Apple Pay on your Apple Watch.
So, did this woman use a poor, easily guessable passcode like 1-1-1-1 for her Apple Watch?
Note also:
• When Find My is activated on an iPhone, its paired Apple Watch can use Activation Lock which makes it harder for anyone to use or sell an Apple Watch that’s been lost or stolen. Activation Lock requires the user’s Apple ID and password to unpair, erase, or reactivate an Apple Watch.
• If wrist detection is disabled, Control Center provides an option for locking Apple Watch. When Apple Watch is locked, Apple Pay can be used only by entering the passcode on the Apple Watch.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/23/woman-drops-apple-watch-at-disney-world-claims-40000-in-fraudulent-credit-card-charges/
Apple reportedly held talks to acquire Electronic Arts
Monday, May 23, 2022 2:27 pm
In recent years, Apple – along with Amazon, Disney, and others – held talks about acquiring Electronic Arts, Dylan Byers reports for Puck.
Dylan Byers for Puck:
For the last four years, What’s Brian Roberts going to buy has been a perennial parlor game question among the Sun Valley set. It all started in 2018, when the Comcast-NBCUniversal chief tried and failed to intercept Bob Iger‘s takeover of the Fox entertainment assets and settled for Sky, instead…
Back in January, after news of the Microsoft-Activision deal broke, I noted that Roberts had few good options left: ViacomCBS, with a market cap of $21 billion, was too small to deliver meaningful scale to NBCUniversal; and, regardless, any potential acquisition would have required a divestiture of overlapping assets like the CBS broadcast station. The other option, I wrote, was Electronic Arts, the formidable gaming company, which had a $40 billion market cap at the time that has since fallen to $36 billion. While not as big as Activision, the Redwood City-based company would have given NBCUniversal a significant stake in the gaming world…
As it turns out, Roberts saw this logic as well. In the wake of the Microsoft-Activision deal, Roberts approached Electronic Arts C.E.O. Andrew Wilson with a proposal to spin off NBCUniversal and merge the media and gaming giants, four sources with knowledge of the proposal told me… The proposal ultimately fell apart within the last month due to disagreements over price and structure…
In recent years, as media companies have taken greater interest in the rapidly-growing gaming industry, Wilson and Electronic Arts have held talks with a number of different potential suitors, including Disney, Apple and Amazon, sources with knowledge of those talks told me.
MacDailyNews Take: Well now, Apple acquiring Electronic Arts certainly would’ve injected a bit of instant giddy-up into Apple Arcade.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/23/apple-reportedly-held-talks-to-acquire-electronic-arts/
Bluejay Mining PLC Announces Final Results ended 31 December 2021
Press Release | 05/19/2022
Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company') Final Resultsfor the Period ended 31 December 2021
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2022 / Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM and FSE listed exploration company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce its Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2021 (the ‘Period'). The Company also gives notice that its Annual General Meeting (‘AGM') will be held on 23 June 2022 at 10:00 at The Washington Mayfair Hotel, 5 Curzon Street, London, W1J 5HE. Copies of the Notice of AGM, together with the Form of Proxy and Annual Report will be posted to shareholders tomorrow and available to view on the Company's website shortly.
Highlights in 2021:
* Final Permits in place to start production at the Dundas Ilmenite Project
(‘Dundas'), Greenland
* Joint Venture (‘JV') signed at the Disko-Nuussuaq Project, Greenland with
KoBold Metals
* JV agreed with Rio Tinto at the Enonkoski Project, Finland, and commencement
of up-to $20 million exploration campaign
* First field season completed for the Thunderstone Project, Greenland
* Leading global investment bank appointed as Lead Arranger for Dundas
* Letters of Interest received from four Export Credit Agencies for Dundas
* Conditional divestment of the Black Shales Assets, Finland, for £4 million
Repayment of the successfully litigated VAT refund received
* Appointment of Mr Johannus Egholm Hansen to the Board as Non-Executive
Director and Mr Peter Davis as Project Manager at Dundas
* Bulk sample pilot plant processing completed for Dundas
Post Period:
* First phase exploration programme completed at the Enonkoski project, Finland,
with 2022 phase imminent
* Electronic Nautical Charts published for Dundas
* Appointment of Mr Eric Sondergaard as Executive Director to the Board
* Incorporation of the Disko-Nuussuaq JV company - Nikkeli Greenland A/S
* European Raw Material Alliance (‘ERMA') announced official support for the
Dundas Ilmenite Project
* Capital increase supported by existing institutional shareholders raising $7
million (£5.4 million) for completion of Dundas Ilmenite feasibility for Project
Finance sign-off
* Comprehensive field season announced for summer 2022 at Disko-Nuussuaq
Project
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SOURCE: Bluejay Mining PLC
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/BLLYF/news/Bluejay-Mining-PLC-Announces-Final-Results-ended-31-December-2021?id=357862
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Apple execs show AR/VR headset to Board of Directors
Thursday, May 19, 2022 2:33 pm
Apple executives previewed the company’s upcoming mixed-reality headset to the company’s board last week, indicating that development of the device has reached an advanced stage, Bloomberg News reports citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The company’s board, made up of eight independent directors and Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, convenes at least four times a year. A version of the device was demonstrated to the directors during the latest gathering, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting was private.
In recent weeks, Apple has also ramped up development of rOS — short for reality operating system — the software that will run on the headset, according to other people familiar with the work. That progress, coupled with the board presentation, suggests that the product’s debut could potentially come within the next several months.
Apple has aimed to unveil the headset as early as the end of this year or sometime next year, with a consumer release planned for 2023… The headset features advanced processors — on par with those in Apple’s latest Macs — as well as ultra-high-resolution screens. Though the first model will offer both VR and AR, the company is also working on stand-alone AR glasses, codenamed N421, for release later this decade…
Apple’s device could cost upwards of $2,000, according to people with knowledge of the device’s development.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, better than the $3,000 price tag previously bandied about! Regardless, this $2,000-ish VR headset will, in large part, exist as a means for developers to build the next killer AR apps for true, light, powerful Apple smartglasses.
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/19/apple-execs-show-ar-vr-headset-to-board-of-directors/
Apple to open new retail store in Wuhan, China on Saturday
Thursday, May 19, 2022 12:09 pm
Last year, Apple began construction for a new store in Wuhan, China, that was originally scheduled to open in September 2022, but it’s significantly ahead of schedule.
Jack Purcher for Patently Apple:
It will be the first Apple Store in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province. It has a population of more than 11 million and is the ninth-most populous city in China…
Apple is well ahead of schedule on their store in Wuhan and, in fact, is opening the store this Saturday, May 21st.
An Apple statement read: “We are incredibly excited to open our first Apple Store in Hubei Province. Our highly dedicated team of Specialist experts is looking forward to welcoming customers from this vibrant community starting this Saturday. This retail store brings new design elements to China for the first time, giving customers more ways to explore ideas, learn more about Apple products, or more easily pick up items ordered online.”
Apple said that the Apple Wuhan retail store features many of Apple’s latest design elements and is the first retail store in China to set up an exclusive Apple Pickup area to allow customers to more conveniently pick up products ordered online.
MacDailyNews Note: More info and photos of the inside of Apple’s newest retail store .
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/19/apple-to-open-new-retail-store-in-wuhan-china-on-saturday/
Audi adds Apple Music to a wide range of its models
Thursday, May 19, 2022 10:30 am
Audi is integrating Apple Music, a premium music streaming subscription service, directly into select models. Adding Apple Music into the infotainment system gives users the ability to access their subscription directly and intuitively from the Multi-Media Interface (MMI) screen using in-car internet data. This seamless integration allows Apple Music subscribers to find their favorite music and discover even more new music.
The new Apple Music integration allows customers to access their personal Apple Music account directly from the Audi infotainment system, with no bluetooth or USB required. After linking an active subscription to the vehicle, Apple Music subscribers can access Apple Music’s full catalog of 90 million songs, and tens of thousands of playlists, including hundreds of new mood and activity playlists, personalized mixes, and genre stations – all ad-free.
“Integrating Apple Music into the Audio infotainment system marks the next step in the collaboration between Audi and Apple,” said Christiane Zorn, Head of Product Marketing at Audi, in a statement. “For our customers, it means that we are offering them direct access to their own personalized listening experience. This is our understanding of a premium digital in-car experience. At Audi we are systematically driving the digitalization of the vehicle and we are convinced that the interior is increasingly developing into a third living space.”
Over-the-air updates also available for vehicles already on the road
The Apple Music integration will be included in nearly all Audi vehicles in Europe, North America and Japan starting with the 2022 model year. The integration will be conveniently rolled out to vehicles already on the road via an automatic over-the-air update.
To activate Apple Music, customers simply need to open the app in their Audi’s infotainment system and follow the on-screen instructions to log in with the Apple ID they use for Apple Music. To finish the setup process, they simply need to enter a verification code that is sent to their phone. For Audi owners in Europe, cellular data streaming costs incurred are conveniently billed via a data package available from Cubic-Telekom. The first three gigabytes are free of charge. Audi vehicles also come with Apple CarPlay support. Drivers can connect their iPhone wirelessly (or via USB) and get directions optimized for traffic, make calls, send and receive messages and listen to music simply by tapping the touchscreen display or using Siri voice control.
Apple Music turns an Audi into a concert hall on wheels
Thanks to the integration of Apple Music, the vehicle not only becomes a hub for streaming entertainment, but also a concert hall on wheels thanks to its sophisticated audio architecture ? and the passengers feel like they’re sitting right in the middle of it all. This is because Audi creates a tailor-made acoustic experience for each model, and digital signal processing delivers a well-balanced sound. For example, the signals from the speakers can be controlled with an individual time offset and thus reach the listener simultaneously. Sound design goes even further to create the ultimate acoustic experience. This is where the Audi sound developers adjust the frequency response to create the typical, but still subjective, Audi sound. Audi has been working with Bang & Olufsen in this context for many years, which has resulted in the development of some exceptional sound systems, such as the B&O Premium Sound System with 3D sound in the Audi e-tron GT1. Here, 16 speakers including 3D sound speakers, a center speaker, and a subwoofer deliver impressive audio.
MacDailyNews Take: Another win for Apple Music!
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/19/audi-adds-apple-music-to-a-wide-range-of-its-models/
Apple previews new accessibility tools for navigation, health, communication, and more
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 9:57 am
Apple today previewed innovative accessibility software features that introduce new ways for users with disabilities to navigate, connect, and get the most out of Apple products. These powerful updates combine the company’s latest technologies to deliver unique and customizable tools for users, and build on Apple’s long-standing commitment to making products that work for everyone...
https://macdailynews.com/2022/05/17/apple-previews-new-accessibility-tools-for-navigation-health-communication-and-more/